6 Questions You Need to Ask to Snag the Best Hotel Room

The question you ask at check-in could mean the difference between a pleasant stay and a hotel nightmare. (Photo: Thinkstock)

By Robert McGarvey

When you are standing at a hotel front desk, signing into a room, know this: you have precious seconds to ask a few key questions and if you don’t speak up, you may have blown your chance to snare a room that meets your particular wishes. That is how important these minutes are.

One question not to ask: can I see the room first? Indeed if you are checking into an albergue - a shared sleeping space - while walking the 500-mile Camino in Spain, you definitely want to ask to see the room first. Quality varies widely. Ditto for hostels and similar budget accommodations. Ask to see the bed before you take it, and your regrets will be fewer. But at hotels in America, Europe, major Asian cities, nah, no one has asked to see a room first in a long time.

Yet there are excellent questions that demand asking before you agree to take a room. Remember, too, noted travel blogger Chris McGinnis, “a lot of times, people think hotel rooms are all the same. That’s not so, especially at older hotels.” At a Ramada Inn Express on the highway, yes, rooms may be much alike. But check into an historic hotel like Taj Boston - built in the 1920s, across from the Public Garden - and the rooms weren’t necessarily standardized to begin with and, over the years, renovations added more differences.

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Rooms can vary greatly, even within the same hotels. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Asking questions at the desk saves surprises and discomfort down the line. If you know the right questions to ask. Road warriors are quick to offer their favorites.

How far is it from the elevator?

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Some people like being near elevators and some don’t. Be sure to make your preference known. (Photo: Thinkstock)

That’s a personal favorite for McGinnis and, depending upon the individual traveler, the right answer can go either way. Some like to be a far removed from what they perceive as the hubbub of an elevator. Some do not like the long walks down sometimes dark hallways. It’s your call. But know where a room is in relationship to the elevator, and you can either confidently ascend knowing your needs are met or express a preference to change.

This hotel room looks like it hadn’t been renovated since the Clinton Administration. (Photo: Thinkstock)

That’s what advice columnist April Masini - aka Ask April - likes to know and her thinking is that at many hotels, renovations are done in stages (often a floor or two at a time). You do not want the room that hasn’t been touched in years. If you want a fresh room, the answer you get will tell you if this is the room you want.

That’s the question from travel blogger Johnny Jet who explained that in places like Hawaii, one set of rooms have gorgeous ocean views… while the other rooms look out at dumpsters and worse. You may have to pay a little extra for the ocean view, but at least make this a conscious choice. A plus of avoiding the dumpsters, noted Jet, is that you will also avoid the noisy 4 a.m. garbage collection truck.

That’s the Q on the lips of the blogger Road Warriorette who explained that she likes to not have such a door - usually in a room so that several rooms can be joined together in a suite - because, she says, “It feels less safe, honestly.”

“Plus in my experience you can hear what’s going on in the adjoining room much more clearly than if there is no door, which can make it hard to sleep,” she added. Connecting doors just seem to let in a lot more noise from the adjoining room and - if you are a light sleeper or you are hoping to get some work done that needs real concentration - a connecting door can ruin your plans.

Can I get a late check-out?

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Check out when you’re ready. (Photo: Thinkstock)

That’s the question from business travel expert Joe Brancatelli who blogs at JoeSentMe. Most hotels want you out at 11 a.m., sometimes noon, but many will let you stay several hours beyond that, at no charge, if you ask in advance.

Ask just those six questions and, generally, you have eliminated the unpleasant surprises that come with getting a room in a location you don’t want and with features you despise.

Word of advice: if there is a line behind you in particular, be sure to ask your questions because, noted McGinnis, a harried desk clerk - seeing the frowning faces behind you - may want to move you along as soon as possible. If that means giving you what you want, so be it.

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